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1.05.2011

Welcome to Hines-Sight!!

After a daunting trip to Food Lion today, I decided that it was time to relieve some stress in my life. Some people may exercise, or eat a whole box of cookies to de-stress Well, I'm going to write. I'll probably eat some cookies and exercise, too, but being able to write my thoughts and experiences help melt my tension away. I don't care if I'm writing for my own entertainment and I"m the only reader. I'm going to fantasize and pretend there are millions!!! My goal is to write and just perhaps, it will help me remove some of the devilish, hormonal horns that have appeared on top of my head post-Christmas.

So welcome to Hines-Sight! As I pulled into the garage after that post-pre-school trip to Food Lion in which my oldest child, "JH", who turned five in December, whined that he was thirsty and hungry for the entire 30 minute trip, I knew today was going to be day I began my blog. JH complained so loudly in the store simply because I changed my daughter's pooh diaper five minutes before I had to be at the church for school pick-up, and wouldn't you know, I forgot his drink as I was running out of the house. His drink? I was lucky to remember to buckle up Little L or bring my purse during this mad sprint to school for pick-up. The infamous drink wasn't even a thought, but yet, I paid for it dearly. In my Hines-Sight, I would be a better mom, and make a nice organized list of exactly what I need to do instead of trying to live by the seat of my pants, and count on my own memory for things. Not being organized gets me in hot water and in situations like today at Food Lion. The silly thing though is we're talking about a cup of juice mixed with water so he can get his daily fluoride that screws up the entire universe for less than an hour. The cup of juice will be there when we get home.

As adults, we can handle not having our juice when we're thirsty and as a 42 year old adult, I have a very hard time understanding why a five year old can't take it like a man, and know that he will have juice as soon as we get home. It won't be that long!! As JH whines when complete strangers approach us in a very loud, annoying voice that he is thirsty and hungry, my embarrassment in the store just seems to swell. I know most people have children, and even though that may have been a long time ago for some, they probably still remember the struggles, but it doesn't make it any easier when your child acts like he is a spoiled, unbehaved child in public. So in hindsight, I said, "Maybe I'm the bad parent and should have tried to go to the store at a different time instead of when it was the most convenient for our schedule. " I had fed "Little L"before we left, and JH had a snack at school, but I learned later that it was just "boring, old goldfish" as he told me in the check-out line. I also thought that maybe it was because I am 42, and am dealing with small children at my age when most people my age are dealing with teens, but as soon as I checked my e-mail, I saw that another parent struggled today as well so the age of a parent doesn't matter nor does the age of the child. As I unloaded the car, walked around in my coat, prepared two lunches, and put away six bags of groceries, still in my coat, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head, and it dawned on me that children are called children for a reason, otherwise, we would call them "mini-adults". It's not MY OLD age that can't handle the chaos, but every parent has these struggles no matter their age or their children's ages. It's just the way it is.

I think the only true people who really enjoy children are grandparents. And they are able to do that simply because anyone can tolerate anything for a short amount of time. Period!!! I will not even bring up the issue that I broke about four nails trying to do the safety lock in the grocery cart to secure Little L. We'll save that for another day...